Element for constructing temporary wall structures

ABSTRACT

An element for constructing a temporary wall or partition made from corrugated cardboard sheet parts and scored so as to be foldable to form side surfaces by which adjacent parts can be joined, other edges of the sheet parts being folded at right angles and the joins between adjacent parts being effected by Uform brackets overlying the join. Two assembled elements are connected back to back to form a rigid cavity structure.

United States Patent 1 11 1 Bartels 14 1 Jan. 22, 1974 ELEMENT FOR CONSTRUCTING TEMPORARY WALL STRUCTURES Friedrich Bartels, Tilsiter Str. 144,

[76] Inventor:

Hamburg, Germany [22] Filed: May 12, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 252,857

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 21, 1971 Germany P 21 25 373.6

[52] US. Cl 52/474, 52/630, 229/49 [51] Int. Cl. A63j 23/00 [58] Field of Search..... 52/105, 474, 630, 284, 272, 52/582; 229/16, 23 R, 49; 46/21 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,829,816 4/1958 Jason 229/23 R 9/1959 Shaag 52/284 3,368,736 2/ 1968 McKellick 229/49 3,381,432 5/1968 Brandwein... 52/612 X 3,564,785 2/1971 Kephart 52/630 X 3,596,424 8/1971 Ward 52/582 X 3,619,965 11/1971 Thibert 52/284 X Primary Examiner-Price C. Faw, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn [57 2 ABSTRACT 11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JAN 2 213%] Km! 2 {If 2 ELEMENT FOR CONSTRUCTING TERARY WALL STRUCTURES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an element for use in the construction of a wall consisting of a shell with strengthening elements connected thereto primarily intended for temporary structures, such as exhibition stands, film scenery or annex buildings.

Known structures use light weight partition walls, usually internally, having limited thickness and weight and which do not have to carry appreciable loads or perform supporting functions, such as strengthening, in buildings. The structures are generally only stable when assembled as part of the building structure. Standard components of this type are usually constructed as skeleton walls, comprising sheets or plaster boards secured to a framework of wood.

For the assembly of partition walls, grooved wall boards are also known, which are assembled together possibly using jointing cement.

For temporary structures of the aforementioned kind, and shop fittings, the assembly of partition walls in this way is too expensive and the stock of units occupies a great deal of space. The adaptation of the wall structures to particular circumstances is difficult and the weight of the elements required for the structure is considerable which renders the assembly and dismantling operation difficult. Assembly has to be carried out by skilled personnel.

An object of this invention is to provide a wall element suitable for the assembly into light weight partition wall structures, which is capable of being standardized and which comprises inexpensive material having satisfactory storage properties and occupying only little space. The elements can also be assembled and dismantled by personnel without special skill.

SUMMARY OF THE lNVENTlON According to this invention the wall element comprises a shell constructed from a number of straightsided parts of a foldable material, for example cardboard, each part being turned over, at the sides which are adjacent other parts, thus forming side surfaces by which adjacent parts abut, at the end surfaces at right angles to the abutting side surfaces, flanges are provided bent at right angles, adjacent parts being held together by at least one bracket member comprising a material folded to embrace the folded over side surfaces and which forms therewith a box-like structure and an L-shaped strip member which comprises a straight edged foldable material and which forms in conjunction with the folded ends of two adjacent parts, a channel. Two shells may face each other and be interconnected at least by the flanges with the brackets of two shells adjacent and facing.

According to another version of the invention a wall element comprises a number of .parts forming a shell each part comprising a straight sided sheet of material, folded at opposite sides to form side facing surfaces by which adjacent parts abut directly against each other, the ends of the sheet at right angles to the sides having flanges bent at right angles; adjacent sheet parts being held together by at least one bracket member comprising a material folded to embrace the folded side surfaces of adjacent parts and which forms therewith .a box-like structure; two shells to formed facing each other by the bracket carrying surfaces the brackets being offset in respect of each shell and the shells being interconnected by overlapping the flanges of each shell end.

A double shell element may be formed from two single shells connected by their facing brackets.

A wall element of this kind has twice the strength of the unit of the second version of the invention.

The wall elements of the invention can be additionally strengthened by elements inserted between two shells, the elements comprising straight-edged sheet blanks folded to form box structures.

The assembly of the wall elements according to the invention is particularly simple, if the adjacent sides of two shell parts forming an element as well as the bracket parts are folded over U-wise so that when jointed together a double-compartment box is formed.

For joining elements at comers members are used which comprise material folded to form a box.

One such box may be formed by octuple folding of a blank, giving a cross section of S-shaped in the interior part and a single central web with double outer walls in each case.

A second box may be formed by the sextuple folding of a blank, the cross section of the box having an outer part of rectangular form, with a single diagonal web and two double outer walls.

The joining elements, strengthening parts and possibly bhe brackets preferably extend over the entire height of the shell.

In one advantageous version of the invention the component parts of the wall element comprise corrugated cardboard sheets adapted to be folded along pregrooved or scored folding lines by which the individual components are to be folded to form a shell which is subsequently joined to form a wall element.

In this simple manner, rigid partition walls of any desired size and length having corners of any angle can be assembled from prefabricated sheets which may be stacked and stored in a very small space, the walls being assembled by folding the sheets and fastening same together, using for example clips. The individual sheets of material can be standardized, so that a considerable saving of cost is obtained, together with the simplifled structure. Assembly can be carried out using unskilled persons. The outer wall surfaces of the shells may be painted or paper covered so as to be indistinguishable from solid walls. The cost of producing partition walls, particularly when the blanks of material consist of corrugated cardboard is sufficiently low so that they can be destroyed after use.

For purpose of heat or sound insulation it is also possible for the cavities between individual shells which form a wall element to be filled with mineral wool or plastics, or for the interior of the shells to be covered with flock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is further described and illustrated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, showing two examples.

.In the drawings:

.FIG. 1 shows a partition wall comprising single shell elements of prefabricated blanks of material, according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a folded shell part for assembly into a partition wall as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross section through the wall of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross section through a two-shell partition wall made up of parts shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a bracket part.

FIG. 6 is the prefabricated blank for the bracket part of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows in cross section, a partition wall made up of two wall element parts in accordance with a second version of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows a strengthening element.

FIG. 9 shows a second form of strengthening element.

FIG. 10 shows a temporary internal structure of wall elements made up from wall elements according to the second version of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A light-weight single shell partition wall 11 is viewed from the strengthened face in FIG. 1 and comprises adjacent shell parts 12, 12a, 12b. FIG. 2 shows the part 12a. The part 12a is a straight sided sheet blank of corrugated cardboard and has on opposite edges and transverse to the corrugations, flanges l4 and 14a folded over at right angles and on sides 15 and 15a folded over in U or channel form. The folded sides in each case form side surfaces 16 and 16a. The sides of adjacent parts directly abut and are held together by two bracket parts 18 (FIG. 5) which are folded and comprise straight-edged corrugated cardboard of the form shown in FIG. 6, the brackets overlie the side surfaces'l6, 16a in such a way as to form a double box joint 20, (FIG. 10) open on both sides. The brackets include a bridge part 18a and are secured by the flanges l9 and 19a to the associated parts of the shell by staples or wire stitches inserted by means of a suitable machine. The space between the leg 19b and side surfaces 16a define an open box like cross section.

Furthermore, L-section strips 21 and 22 are provided which are folded from straight corrugated cardboard strips and which, in FIG. 1 cover the upper and lower sides of the shell parts and which underlie the flanges l4 and 14a to form channels extending longitudinally.

The partition wall described can be combined with a second partition wall to form a double shell wall, by joining together by the strengthening brackets 18. The bracket parts 18 are situated opposite each other, as shown in cross section in FIG. 4 and in addition, covering strips 24 and 25 can be attached to the upper and lower side faces. This provides a double-shell wall element of twice the thickness.

From the shell parts described in conjunction with FIG. 2 and from the bracket parts described by reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, however, it is also possible to build up a double-shell element corresponding in thickness to the single-shell element of FIG. 3. For this purpose as shown in FIG. 7 two elements 12 and 12a shown in FIG. 1 are joined together with their strengthening brackets directed towards one another to rest against the opposite shell by offsetting the brackets in each shell in relation to one another, as shown in FIG. 10. The angle strips 21 and 22 shown in FIG. 1 are not required in this version of the invention.

If the distance between the strengthening boxes formed in the shells is too great for requirements, additional strengthening elements are provided which, as shown in FIG. 8, may consist of straight-edged corrugated cardboard blanks folded to form a double compartment box 30, by means of folding lines a to h. The cross section of the box shown has an S-shaped inner part 31, with an outer part 32 surrounding same and having a single central web with two opposite double outer walls.

A further box 35 of this kind is shown in FIG. 9, and is produced by folding along the line a to f, of a straightedged corrugated cardboard strip. The cross section comprises a Z-shaped inner part 36 and a surrounding outer part 37 with a single central web and a double outer web on each of opposite sides.

The parts of the end of a double wall element such as shown in FIG. 7 are connected by a terminal part which, as shown in FIG. 10, may comprise the doublecompartment box 30 or 35. The terminal part, however, may also consist of a blank 38 which is bent to form a Z and which, with the end 15 forms a singlecompartment box.

The side parts at a comer 40 are staggered with respect to each face to an extent depending on the distance D between the two shells and on the angle d and are connected by strengthening element 30 to impart rigidity.

The corner 40a shows an angle of the element 30 being inserted into the angle. At 40b, a right angle is produced as a result of two elements 132 and 13f connecting through the wall 13g in such a way that they are spaced by the thickness D of a wall element. The relevant bracket part 18a is provided with a wider central web for this purpose.

Finally, a joint of 90 can also be produced, as shown at 40c in FIG. 10, by interconnecting two wall elements so that they abut against each other.

The brackets can also extend over the entire height of a wall element.

The operation of folding over the straight-edged blanks, which may comprise material other than corrugated cardboard, is carried out by means of pre-scored lines 50, (FIG. 6) which are produced during prefabrication of the material.

The folded blanks may also be interconnected by means of adhesive strips if required.

I claim:

1. A wall element constructed from a number of parts forming a shell, each part comprising:

a straight sided sheet of material, opposite sides of said sheet being folded to form side faces surfaces by which surfaces adjacent parts abut directly against each other, opposite ends of said sheet which are at right angles to said sides having flanges bent over at right angles;

a bracket member secured to a pair of adjacent sheet parts for holding said adjacent sheet parts together, said bracket member comprising a material folded to bridge and embrace said folded side surfaces of said adjacent sheet parts and to form therewith a box-like structure, said adjacent sheet parts defining a shell, two of said shells so formed facing each other so that said bracket members are offset from each other in respect of each shell and said flanges overlapping the flanges of opposite and adjacent shell ends to interconnect said pair of shells together.

2. A wallelement as claimed in claim 1, wherein between said pair of shells box-shape strengthening elements are positioned formed from folded sheet blanks.

3. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sides of two meeting wall elements are interconnected by a terminal unit comprising a folded sheet material forming one of a single and double compartment box.

4. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side surfaces of said pair of shells are staggered whereby an angled joint between said pair of shells may be positioned, a joint defined thereby having at least one strengthening element having a box-shape formed from a folded sheet blank.

5. A wall element as claimed in claim 1 including a strengthening member formed by folding a strip along eight prescored lines extending parallel and longitudinally to form an S-shaped inner part.

6. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, including a strengthening member formed by folding a strip along six prescored lines extending parallel and longitudinally to form a Z-shaped inner part.

7. A wall element as claimed in claim 1 wherein terminal units and strengthening members extend over the height of said shells.

8. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bracket members extend over the entire height of said shell parts.

' 9. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of terminal units and strengthening members extend over the height of said shells.

10. A wall element constructed from a number of shell parts forming a shell, each shell part comprising:

a planar material blank of corrugated paper having 6 opposite pairs of edges, a first pair of opposite edges being folded twice to define an L-shaped flange, one leg of said L-shaped flange extending parallel to the plane of said material blank, a second pair of opposite edges extending a right angle to said first pair of edges being folded once to define a flange extending at a right angle to said material blank, a pair of adjacent shell parts engaging each other along a surface on said L-shaped flange; and at least one bracket of corrugated paper folded to overlap a pair of mutually adjacent L-shaped flanges on said material blank and to form an open box-like cross section, said bracket having a planar bridge part parallel to and engaging said one leg of each of said mutually adjacent L-shaped flanges and a pair of L-shaped legs connected to opposite sides of said bridge part with one leg being parallel to and horizontally spaced from said bridge part and secured to said material blank, a horizontal spacing between the other leg of said L-shaped leg and the other leg of said L-shaped flange defining said open box-like cross section; and an angle piece consisting of corrugated paper folded to define a pair of perpendicular legs, one leg of said angle piece being positioned between said flange on said material blank and a longitudinal end of said L-shaped flange, a second leg being positioned to overlap said one leg of said L-shaped flange. 11. A wall element as claimed in claim 10, wherein a pair of shell parts are connected together, said bracket on each of said shell parts being aligned and engaging each other. 

1. A wall element constructed from a number of parts forming a shell, each part comprising: a straight sided sheet of material, opposite sides of said sheet being folded to form side faces surfaces by which surfaces adjacent parts abut directly against each other, opposite ends of said sheet which are at right angles to said sides having flanges bent over at right angles; a bracket member secured to a pair of adjacent sheet parts for holding said adjacent sheet parts together, said bracket member comprising a material folded to bridge and embrace said folded side surfaces of said adjacent sheet parts and to form therewith a box-like structure, said adjacent sheet parts defining a shell, two of said shells so formed facing each other so that said bracket members are offset from each other in respect of each shell and said flanges overlapping the flanges of opposite and adjacent shell ends to interconnect said pair of shells together.
 2. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein between said pair of shells box-shape strengthening elements are positioned formed from folded sheet blanks.
 3. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sides of two meeting wall elements are interconnected by a terminal unit comprising a folded sheet material forming one of a single and double compartment box.
 4. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side surfaces of said pair of shells are staggered whereby an angled joint between said pair of shells may be positioned, a joint defined thereby having at least one strengthening element having a box-shape formed from a folded sheet blank.
 5. A wall element as claimed in claim 1 including a strengthening member formed by folding a strip along eight prescored lines extending parallel and longitudinally to form an S-shaped inner part.
 6. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, including a strengthening member formed by folding a strip along six prescored lines extending parallel and longitudinally to form a Z-shaped inner part.
 7. A wall element as claimed in claim 1 wherein terminal units and strengthening members extend over the height of said shells.
 8. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bracket members extend over the entire height of said shell parts.
 9. A wall element as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of terminal units and strengthening members extend over the height of said shells.
 10. A wall element constructed from a number of shell parts forming a shell, each shell part comprising: a planar material blank of corrugated paper having opposite pairs of edges, a first pair of opposite edges being folded twice to define an L-shaped flange, one leg of said L-shaped flange extending parallel to the plane of said material blank, a second pair of opposite edges extending a right angle to said first pair of edges being folded once to define a flange extending at a right angle to said material blank, a pair of adjacent shell parts engaging each other along a surface on said L-shaped flange; and at least one bracket of corrugated paper folded to overlap a pair of mutually adjacent L-shaped flanges on said material blank and to form an open box-like cross section, said bracket having a planar bridge part parallel to and engaging said one leg of each of said mutually adjacent L-shaped flanges and a pair of L-shaped legs connected to opposite sides of said bridge part with one leg being parallel to and horizontally spaced from said bridge part and secured to said material blank, a horizontal spacing between the other leg of said L-shaped leg and the other leg of said L-shaped flange defining said open box-like cross section; and an angle piece consisting of corrugated paper folded to define a pair of perpendicular legs, one leg of said angle piece being positioned between said flange on said material blank and a longitudinal end of said L-shaped flange, a second leg being positioned to overlap said one leg of said L-shaped flange.
 11. A wall element as claimed in claim 10, wherein a pair of shell parts are connected together, said bracket on each of said shell parts being aligned and engaging each other. 